On Golden Pond [Collector's Edition] [Blu-ray]

Director: Mark Rydell

Overview

There's little that happens in On Golden Pond that isn't thoroughly predictable from the start, but the film is blessed with so much star power, charm and honest sentiment that everyone in the audience is willing to ignore the cliches and go the distance. In his last film, Henry Fonda plays Norman Thayer, a cranky 80-year-old retired professor, making his annual pilgrimage with his wife Katharine Hepburn (in her only teaming with Henry Fonda) to their New England summer cottage. Their solitude is interrupted when the couple's daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) arrives with her fiance Bill (Dabney Coleman) and his son Doug McKeon in tow. It takes a while, but Jane Fonda and Coleman, about to go on a vacation of their own, persuade Henry Fonda and Hepburn to take care of McKeon. Henry Fonda and the kid dislike each other from Square One, and it looks as though this summer (which may very well be Henry Fonda's last) will be a depressing experience. Gradually, Henry Fonda and McKeon grow to love one another; their bond is strengthened during a near-fatal accident while fishing. It is through the warm relationship between Henry Fonda and the boy that the old man and his daughter Jane Fonda are at last able to display affection towards each other--the first time they've done so in years. Gorgeously photographed by Billy Williams, On Golden Pond is a wonderful valedictory for Henry Fonda, who died not long after the film's completion; Katharine Hepburn has less to do, but few can do so much with so little. Academy Awards were bestowed upon Henry Fonda, Hepburn, and screenwriter Ernest Thompson (who adapted the film from his stage play).

Product Details

Release Date:	01/20/2015
UPC:	0826663155839
Original Release:	1981
Rating:	PG
Source:	SHOUT FAC
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:49:00
Sales rank:	2,806

Special Features

Audio commentary with director Mark Rydell; Reflections on Golden Pond featurette; A Woman of Substance: Katharine Hepburn Remembered featurette; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Henry Fonda	Norman Thayer Jr.,Chelsea Thayer Wayne
Katharine Hepburn	Ethel Thayer
Dabney Coleman	Bill Ray
Doug McKeon	Billy Ray
William Lanteau	Charlie Martin
Christopher Rydell	Sumner Todd,Sumner Todd
Troy Garity	Young Boy on Jetty
Dave Grusin	Composer

Technical Credits

Ernest Thompson

Ernest Thompson	Screenwriter
Bruce Gilbert	Producer
Lew Grade	Executive Producer
Laurey Condon	Sound Effects
Richard Portman	Sound Effects
David Ronne	Sound Effects,Sound/Sound Designer
Kay Rose	Sound Effects,Sound Editor
Victoria Rose Sampson	Sound Effects
Dianne Crittenden	Casting
Martin Starger	Producer
Barry Primus	Casting
Terry Carr	Producer

Editorial Reviews

As America staggered out of its post-Vietnam Carter-era late-'70's numbness, films became one of the means to healing the country's psychic wounds. Consequently, 1981's On Golden Pond became one of a string of films anchored by the generational theme of parent-child rapprochement. One of the things that set this film apart from its contemporaries was the first-time pairing of real life father and daughter Henry and Jane Fonda. In order to evoke the requisite nostalgic tone, director Mary Rydell's film is seeped in sepia-golden hues courtesy of veteran cinematographer Billy Williams III. The film's conflict resolution process is too pat and the direction too self-congratulatory to allow it status as a classic, but there is genuine pathos plus some remarkable work done by Katharine Hepburn and Best Actor Oscar winner Henry Fonda. The elder thespians raise their roles from what could have been clichés (the doting wife, the dottering coot) into the realm of archetypes. The supporting characters fare less well, as the script sometimes short circuits their development in order to get to the next big emotional moment. Despite these complaints, On Golden Pond succeeds because of its appealingly humane plea for generational healing and the wonderful work of Hepburn and Henry Fonda.